This invention relates to wire printers comprising a group of substantially straight and substantially parallel printing wires, means for guiding the printing ends of said wires for longitudinal movement towards and away from a printing station, a group of electromagnets each of which is arranged to operate one of said printing wires, means for supporting said electromagnets in a row extending along said group of printing wires, each of said electromagnets comprising a core extending at right angles to the printing wires and having a front end adjacent to said group of printing wires and a rear end remote from said group of printing wires, a winding on said core, an armature extending along said core, means for pivotally connecting said armature to the rear end of said core, a biasing spring tending to move the armature away from the front end of the core, and means for connecting the front end of the armature to the rear end of a corresponding one of said printing wires for imparting said longitudinal movement thereto.
In known printers of the general type above specified, each of the electromagnets forms a structural unit consisting of a U-shaped core and an armature fitted thereon. The units in question are mounted individually on a common base plate. The length (that is, the extension in the direction of the wires) of the electromagnet group and its base plate is comparatively large.
The invention has for its principal aim to improve the wire printers of the general type above specified by providing an electromagnet design requiring only a minimum of space in the direction of the printing wires and allowing a very compact design of the printer as a whole. Another object is the provision of a wire printer composed of simple and inexpensive parts which can be assembled quickly and easily to form a printer unit.